APTS, which is part of a broader TV-industry education effort, is already committed to on-air education and information in TV-station program guides, on Web sites and in viewer mailings. But the group, which represents more than 350 public TV stations, said it will also team up with the American Library Association for a grassroots effort.

The campaign will likely include joint programming and events at libraries. One such event might be a show-and-tell demonstration of the DTV converter boxes that analog-only TVs will need to receive broadcast-TV pictures after February 2009.

“Many of those in danger of losing access to free television are among this country’s most vulnerable: the elderly, the poor and minority communities," ALA president Loriene Roy said in announcing the initiative. "These are just the communities that rely on libraries and public television as credible institutions for news and facts about events just like the DTV transition.”